It is known to optically inspect manufactured items for defects that would render the item unusable, such as by combining a fastener inspection system with a single camera. The inspection of fasteners may include examining threaded fasteners to ensure that the threaded portion is correctly formed, that the fastener head is correctly formed, that the junction of the head and shank is correctly formed, that the shank is correctly formed at the terminal end, and other suitable examinations.
One drawback to prior methods and systems is that the optical inspection software must be able to match the object against a library of acceptable objects regardless of its orientation and lighting, and this must be done in a rapid manner. While some of these problems can be solved by initially orienting the object in only one position and then moving it to other pre-determined positions, the recognition software must still track the object and recognise it once it has reached the new orientation. This process requires a computationally intensive operation that can be the limiting factor in the production and quality control of the fasteners.